There is a substantial market in the landscape irrigation industry for residential and commercial irrigation control systems that can individually water a number of zones on a property that have different watering requirements in accordance with location, soil composition, exposure, vegetation and seasonal climatological factors. Homeowners or other users with such a property tend to be more or less computer-literate and are likely to own one or more computers. Because the multitude of initial settings and seasonal adjustments required for the proper operation of even a relatively small number of zones with different watering requirements on a specific property can be daunting, it is desirable to provide the user with a computer program that calculates a watering schedule for the user.
Taking into account the fact that some users like to frequently fine-tune their irrigation system while others do not want to ever be bothered with it, it is desirable to give the user the choice of any degree of control between fully automatic adjustment in accordance with forecast or existing weather conditions, or fully manual adjustment of any system parameters in accordance with personal judgment. Thus, the use of the PC for controlling the system should be sufficiently intuitive to minimize errors in complex set-ups, and to allow a do-it-yourself user to operate the system without memorizing seldom-used routines. On the other hand, the system should accommodate a disinterested user by automatically updating the system and allowing a landscaping contractor to periodically monitor and adjust the system without entering the property.
It has also been believed in the past that automatically adjustable irrigation control systems are impractical for controlling landscape illumination because the parameters that enter into automatic irrigation control are not compatible with the parameters that typically govern lighting. Yet it would be economically and practically desirable for the user to have a single, uniformly operated device that can control both irrigation and lighting.